Flytrap



Ud, 14, :924. Lu-m.

" F. AF. SKELLY FLYTRAP FiledAJan. 25, 1921 2 Sheets-Shes'. 2

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1 Fmnwlguy nppnnati'dn ined Jennery 25, 1923i. serial Nb. essere.

Tall whom il' may conce/rw:

Beit* known that` LFRANK F.' SKELIZY, a eitizen of the United' States, residing at lilanfniona,v in ,the county of San Diego and State of California, have invented certain new and'r use-ful Improvements in` Flytraps, of .which the following is' a: specification.

My present-invention; relates to' traps and more particularly to that ela'ss adapted to lnreand catch flies.: V A Y The principalY objects ofrny invention. are,

to provide'fl'y trapsfwhioh may be made of.

ineiipens'iveAmaterial;V such as paper easily manufactured so as to be vendedi at low price sueh as to justify the burning of the traps andtheir contents when a suiiicient nuniber of flies have been` trapped and' thus effectivelyl destroy such pests ;'A andl which; may be oompaotly foldedv for shipinent andV storage when not in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide flyr traps which arey attractive in apil pearance as to outline so that they may be: used in places where an' ordinary trapwould be undesirable from an aesthetie stan'dpdint, sueh as in'the living;roomj or dining rooni ofav residence or in shopzsyhotels, liosptals ete, andwhichnaybe decorated ina inanner'fto add' to the" attractiyeness of the traps` and alsoinereasetheir eflioiency by hiring* the ies to a portion where escape is impos- Sbl- Ar further object of the invention is to prQyidey traps which nia-y, be disposed on a flatV surface,- sueh as a table-` or shelf, or which may be suspended-from the ceilingv or ot 'er objectvwhen inuse.' e

ther Objectisv and.. adyantages of the' invention will appear in the following detailed description/'taken in connection with the.

aooompfanying; drawings, forming' a part of th. specification, and in' which drawings:

'i ignrel a perspective View of a fly trap constructed accordingto my invention.

i ig. 2-'is aside elevation of the tra-p collapsed-orfolded.H d y i ig. 3'7i's va.fragilientarydetail vView' in Vertical'section through the lower portion of thetrap.` l i Fig. ll is a plan View of the base of the ma i ln the drawings where similar characters of reference' refer toi similar parts throughi out thewiewsA designates the mainbody portion. or housing of the trap, Bthe base thereof; C a device to facilitate the suspend ing of the trap by a* cord or wregf and D lure in' the' body A.; which may of t'lie nature to stupeiyor -to poison the flies'.

Referringiirst to the' rnai'il body portion or housing?en'A it preferably n'i'ade of pay per or other flexible material", in order that" it may be nifannfaetinfed at low" oost, suoli as to justify destruetion of the'trap and; the iiiesf entrappedl by lire.` It is tl'ierefore desirable that this main" body portion orhoilsing be of inflammable niaterial- For the dual purpose of making the tilapreadfil'y" col'- lapsible` for shipment and' storage when not in use; andi to also provide roosts on the; inte'- rior of the housing, for the flies,A tliis l'nail body porti'oir oi' hou'singris;n inI tlleexniple slibwin'y of accordionel'ike forinatinl This may bencooinplished byp criinpingthe inattral from whiolrthel housing is madefor arrang'ingit in folds indicated'at land 6, like the sides'` of bellows or an accordienj tht7 inner sides off theV folds Gserving as" roosts" for' the' flies about a central space 7 indi? cated in Figure 3' of the' drawings''on` tlief inter-idr the Inain body portion or; holle# ing These roostsl similarto'A l'edgesj'or shelve'supoi'r which the [lies rhay rest* after entering the'trap and after partakiligff of` theL lure, which tend' to stlpfy the" llies. Resting on these r`0dsts",` after becniing ef hansted., the l'esare outof the of' those* entering the trap and' flying"`` abouti in" the central portion 7 inan elfort'to escape. The topof the main 'body pntionI or' housing* A" niaynbe closed in any' Suitable manner', bdt in the example shown is provided with pyraniid'like top 8,1which may be" oompaot-` ly f`olded,` by' creasing the material from which it isfbrinje'd on the lines indicated by characters 9, 1011 and lQ'which indicate that the'inaiterall s'to be bent inwardly', and the line indicating that the` materiala to be: bent outwardly, so that* this itop Swilb liel closely adj aeent thei collapsed sidewall portion, as indicated' in Fi'gfiire' 2' df the" `after noted, the" base B is preferably" pro-I videdl with legis or downwardly extendiiig" flanges l-lsoasto"r s1'nac.e"'the'1nain body' por? tion l5' of theJ base"Y from the surface oilf which it` is'v supported.4 Thus-the lliesaie permitted to crawl beneath the base, when is preferably 1made of cardboard or relav tively vvheavy paper, or some other material vat which is relatively light in weight, and preferablyv inHammable, so that it may be destroyed ywith the rest 'of the trap as here inbefore noted. This base is provided with a channel 16 adjacent its margin for the vreception of the lure D, yand may taper upwardly from the channel toward l the center of thek base which, in the example shown,v provides a Vpyramid-like central portion 17 which,l may be providedV with an ,aperture 18 at its apex, this aperture servingas an entrance for Hies to the trap,

which have crawled beneath the base, or

which` Hy upwardly into the hollow lower portion of the base. The channel-16 is Vpreferablycontinuous, and receives the lure ll), which `may be in .the form. of a dried paste like material, renderedjacti've as a lure, by moistening.

ner,-in the example shown, having its lower marginal portion provided with flaps' 19 which, are pastedy or otherwise secured tothe upper portion of the base B. In

order to provide. entrances forthe Hies'at the-base, the-folds 5 which incline upwardly andykinwardly from the base may beprovided with cutaway portions 2O and may have dependinglingers 21, which constrict,

to ,some extent, these entrances and have a tendency to preventHies Hnding exit from ythe-.trap to these entrances. yItisto benoted that, byl providing theseentrances in the inclinedl folds of the body portion- A, yor in other words, the walls thereof, the basev may 'be ymade relatively narrow and still provide ample space for flies to alight and crawl into the trap.

The devices C may consist of a cord securedat the apex -of the top A, in looped formation, so that the trap may be readilyv tied to a cord suspended from'the ceiling,

`or receive the .hooked portion of `a wire.

This device C also aids in opening the trap f ,for use, after it has been shipped'or stored in collapsed condition.

' An important Vfeature of the invention is the treatingvof themain body'portion or housing A so asto permit a greater amount ofrlight to its interior at its upper portion than other portions thereof, so as to lure the flies upwardly where escape zis impossible. .The mainbody portion or housing maybe rendered more pervious to light at its top than -at its lower portion, as by` printing," stamping, dyeing, or otherwise treating the material 'from which the main lbody portion or housing is formed in a -i thallgatits upper portion. This treatment 6.5,

manner that it is darker at its lower portion of the :mainfbody portion or housing may also be used to ornament the article of manufacture, so as to have a pleasing appearance, but the prime function of so treatingthe material is to render the upper portion more pervious to light than the lower portion, so' that afterthe Hies have entered the trap at the base, and have partaken of the lure at the base, then will Hy upwardly and finally alight on one of the roosts provided within the housing.

Tt is to be observed that a trap of this kind is very sanitary, due to the fact that Hies seeking to escape are vnot exposed to view but are entirely enclosed by the upper portion of the housing and particles agitated by their Hying cannot readily pass into the air outside of the trap. AS av matter of fact, the. lure if moistened, in order to be rendered active, will serve yto catch particles dropping to the base. The 'lure may be readily moistened by pourin v asmall quantity of water into the channe The main -bodyportion or housing A is secured to the base in yany suitable .man-

from the entrances 20, and `by slightly'tilting the base, this water will How about the channel and thoroughly moisten the lure.

After a sutlicient number of Hies have been caught in the trap, to Warrant its destruction, it may be readily burnt 'by throwing the trap into a stove or furnace, the entire trap and contents to ybe destroyed by the Hames. y

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention; but,

I claim:

1. A Hy trap comprising in combination, a base and an imperforate dome-like housing having entrances for Hies at said base and roosts extending inwardly from the walls 'of the housing about a central space for flying. f

2. Hy trap comprising in combination, a base and a housing closed at its upper portion, having entrances for flies at said base and roosts extending'inwardlyfrom the walls of the housing about a central space for flying, said housing treated to permit a greater amount of light to its interior at its upper portion than other portionsthereof to lure the Hies upwardly.

3. A Hy trap comprising` a base having an annularly extending lure receiving channel in spaced relation to its periphery, and

ya housing having its walls secured upon a housing above said base said housing provided with fly entrances adjacent said channel, and a lure in said channel.

5. A fly trap comprising in combination, a collapsible imperforate main body portion closed at its upper end and having a base at the lower end with entrances for the flies at said base, the walls of the body being crimped transversely to provide roost ing ledges within the housing.

6. A fly trap comprising in combination7 a collapsible accordionelike main body por tion closed at its upper end and having a base at the lower end with entrances for the flies at said base, said main body portion treated to be more pervious to light at its top than at its lower portion to lure the fiies upwardly.

7. In a fly trap, the combination, of a base7 and a housing secured to said base adjacent its margin, said housing having a wall portion extending directly from said base inclined inwardly and upwardly therefrom, the lower portion of the wall being cut to provide an entrance at the base and depending guard tongues partially closing the entrance at said base provided by a cnt away portion of the wall. f

8; In a fly trap, the combination, of a base, and a housing secured to said base adjacent its margin, said housing having a wall portion extending directly from said vbase inclined inwardly and upwardly therefrom, and provided with an entrance at said base provided by a cut away portion of the wall, and fingers depending in a vertical plane from said cutaway portion to constrict the entrance.

FRANK F. SKELLY. 

